Cynthia The Harpy
by SquidbaggerOfWoomyAndNgyesness
Summary: Iniabi and Cynthia fool around with a tome, despite their fathers forbidding them from using magic until they're older. While playing Justice Cabal, the tome backfires on Cynthia.


_Note: The Harpy!Cynthia idea is owned by Waywatcher._

* * *

The idea had happened due to boredom, a definite sign as to how bad of an idea it was.

It began innocently enough. Cynthia was on one of her regular visits to Ylisstol Palace. Sumia and Henry had business to do with Morgan and Amber, so they had let their daughter run around with her best friend for the duration of their stay. It being a relatively-uneventful Saturday afternoon, with nowhere to go and nothing to do, Cynthia had decided for the both of them that that they were going to play Justice Cabal together. Owain was unavailable to join his second cousin and friend, so it was just the two of them at the moment. They had been playing together when Cynthia had suggested that they'd get a tome to play with in their stories. Iniabi had been against it, as Morgan had made it clear to his son that he didn't want him using magic until he was at least a teenager, when he coud know for sure that Iniabi would be responsible with his abilities. It was the same with Henry forbidding Cynthia until she was older as well. Iniabi was currently 9, while Cynthia was 12, so both still weren't quite old enough yet, However, Cynthia had pressed him until the dark blue haired boy relented. The two then snuck into the castle armory together, and Iniabi had taken the first tome he saw before the two children bolted out before anyone could spot them.

After rushing to their own little Justice Cabal "Headquarters", which was really just their own little special room in the castle that had various posters of pegasi and princesses and was ironically the place that the two had met each other years earlier, Iniabi and Cynthia got ready to start their little mock battle scenario. In it, Cynthia, the hero in the story, was fighting Iniabi, who took on the role of a bandit leader, with him stationed in a pillow fight the two had permanently set up in the room. Things were going fine until the part where Cynthia was supposed to "defeat" Iniabi. As they "fought", Iniabi decided to chant a spell from the tome. He and Cynthia had of course never been taught how to use magic yet, so none of them understood what the words in the tome were saying due to how ancient the dilect seemed to be, but he understood how to pronounce the words for some reason. As he did, there was a flash of light that blinded the room. Cynthia let out a scream as the room was flooded by light and her body crumpled to the ground as the spell washed over her body. When the light faded, Iniabi found Cynthia sprawled out on the ground.

"Cynthia!" Iniabi shouted.

He started running towards her, but stopped and stared at her with wide eyes. Cynthia pulled herself up on her elbows and looked at Iniabi in confusion.

"Iniabi? What's wrong?" Cynthia asked in confusion.

She followed the younger boy's glance and looked down at her body. When she did, her own eyes widened in shock and horror. She felt fine, but her body had been changed to a harpy's appearance. Her legs were gone and had been replaced with giant dark gray and gold chicken legs, while her arms were now giant white bird wings. Though fortunately, her chest still retained the top portion of her former dress.

"Wha... what happened to me?" Cynthia asked fearfully.

"I... I don't know! I must have accidentally gotten you transformed into this just now." Iniabi replied.

"Change me back!" Cynthia pleaded.

"I-I can't! I don't know how!" Iniabi said nervously.

He looked at the tome again. The text was pronouncable, but he didn't have a clue as to what the little words and symbols meant. It was extremely foreign and complex for him. Cynthia started sweating.

"We can't let Mother and Father see me like this! Mother will freak out, while Father will be so disappointed with me. He'll punish me for going behind his back like this!" Cynthia said.

Iniabi nodded.

"Father's never gonna let me live this down if he sees me like this." Iniabi said.

Cynthia started panicking.

"S-S what are we g-gonna do, then? I-If Mother and Father find out..." Cynthia started to ask nervously.

"They don't have to know. We'll just… wait til the transformation ends. Hopefully, you're not like this forever. Maybe... maybe the spell's not permanent." Iniabi replied.

Cynthia took deep breaths to calm herself down.

"Y-Yeah, you're right, Inny." Cynthia said.

The 12 year old Plegian-Ylissean attempted to walk over to Iniabi, but her new change in weight made it more difficult for her to move. The odd feeling her new chicken legs gave her really threw off. She made it only two extremely shaky steps before she stumbled and crashed to the floor, tears in her eyes as she gave a cry of pain. Iniabi knelt down and helped his friend into a sitting position against the wall.

"S-Sorry." Cynthia muttered.

Iniabi shook his head.

"Don't be, Cynth. Let's just... wait here on the ground." Iniabi said.

The two children just sat there and waited in silence for what seemed like an eternity. Iniabi started rocking back and forth, while Cynthia just stared at her bird wings and chicken legs. Iniabi briefly glanced at her featered arms from time to time, until he couldn't take it any longer.

"Can I touch them?" Iniabi asked.

"Hmm?" Cynthia asked, looking at him.

Iniabi blushed.

"Your arms, I mean. Can I... touch them?" Iniabi asked.

"Oh, um, sure." Cynthia replied, not really sure what else to say.

Iniabi's hand brushed against her right bird wing. He stared at the white haired girl, fascinated, his fingers gently stroking her now-fluffy appendage. The feathers made Cynthia feel as soft as a pillow. Why did it feel so… so… good? A smile spread across his face as he ran his fingers all over it, giggling when she squirmed and grinning when she let out a soft sigh, his eyes wide in wonder at it all.

"You're really… fluffy." Iniabi said.

His cheeks were pink as he ran his hand over her bird wings.

"Your feathers are so soft." Iniabi said.

He put his other hand over his mouth and giggled.

"I think it's the softest thing I've ever touched." Iniabi said.

Cynthia didn't know what to say to that. Iniabi's hand just kept stroking her. Cynthia closed her eyes and melted into her friend's touch, imagining he was touching her for real, not just because she was like a semi-human pillow. She suddenly felt the other child's cheek leaning against her wings.

"So… fluffy." Iniabi murmured, giggling as he nuzzled her feathers.

He looked at Cynthia with a cute smile.

"This is gonna sound kind of weird… but… can you lie down? Your feathers are so soft, I wanna see what it's like to snuggle." Iniabi asked.

"Uh, sure." Cynthia replied.

She wrapped her arms around Iniabi and brought him close, hardly believing this was really happening. Iniabi rested his cheek against her chest before letting out a contented sigh.

"This feels amazing. It's like cuddling a ball of fluff." Iniabi whispered.

Cynthia secretly had to admit that it felt pretty good to her as well, especially when Iniabi started stroking her wings again. Every touch was like heaven, knowing it was coming from him. Iniabi was in her arms like she'd always dreamed he'd be, even if she was some weird human/bird monster. Maybe someday, he'd let her hold him for real, as herself. Not as a monster or even the girl he once knew, but rather as a woman.

Wouldn't that be the day?


End file.
